STORM: Sloppy play leads to rout by Lancaster

LAKE ELSINORE – Before their
final fireworks show of the season, the Storm were anything but
spectacular as they fell 9-3 to the lowly Lancaster JetHawks in a
sloppy game on Friday night in front of 4,444 at The Diamond.

The Storm appeared to get things going early,
scoring twice in the first inning, but the offense was quickly
quieted by JetHawks starter Andrew Robinson (7-9) who settled in
and stifled Storm bats for 5 1/3 innings, giving up only three hits
and one run after the first.

On the other side, Lake Elsinore starter Matt
Lollis (4-8) struggled and lasted only 3 2/3 innings, surrendering
six runs.

Lollis, nicknamed “Big Country” because of his
massive 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame, appeared to have control
problems early and never found a groove. After giving up a run in
the first inning, Lollis continued to labor through the next two
frames before the game got away in the fourth.

“I just couldn’t find any consistency,” said
Lollis, a native of Riverside. “I wasn’t able to pound the strike
zone the way I usually do, and I couldn’t make the pitches I needed
to make.”

In the fourth inning, after a leadoff single,
Lollis gave up an RBI-double to JetHawks first baseman Erik Castro.
Then after an acrobatic play by Lollis to catch a
popped up bunt attempt, things quickly derailed for the Storm
(33-27).

With runners on first and third and one out,
JetHawks left fielder Dan Adamson hit a ground ball right to Storm
third baseman Jake Blackwood, who initially bobbled it and then
made an errant throw to the plate that soared over the outreached
glove of catcher Eddy Rodriguez.

Later in the inning, with two outs, Lollis
caught JetHawks catcher Federico Hernandez drifting too far off the
bag at third and put him in a rundown, but another errant throw by
the Storm that trickled down the third base line would allow
Hernandez to score safely and keep the inning going.

Storm reliever Zach Herr came in and struck
out the only batter he faced to end the frame, but the damage was
done. The JetHawks (21-39) sent nine men to the plate in the
inning, and five scored.

“He (Lollis) didn’t pitch as badly as the
score would indicate,” said Storm pitching coach Bronswell Patrick.
“His breaking stuff wasn’t as sharp as it has been, but he held his
own. He got a few ground balls that should have helped, but they
didn’t.”

“It was just one of those games,” said Storm
interim manager Phil Plantier. “We made some early defensive
mistakes on fundamental plays that didn’t help out the staff and
forced the pitchers to make more pitches, and then our bats
deteriorated the rest of the way.

“We didn’t do much right today.”

On a positive note for the Storm, Reymond
Fuentes and Jeudy Valdez continued their hot hitting at the top of
the order, going a combined 3-for-8 while scoring the first two
Storm runs and driving in the third. In their previous five games
entering Friday, both players were each batting .467.

The Lancasters JetHawks entered Friday’s
action on pace to post the worst record in franchise history
(52-88).